Student FAQs

Toyota-West Dallas Scholarships are based on merit. Toyota-West Dallas does not consider financial need for selection. However, financial need will be taken into consideration to determine the amount of the award.

During the selection process, special consideration will be given to graduating seniors, and recent graduates, of L.G. Pinkston High School in West Dallas, TX. Students who graduated from a high school in Dallas-Fort Worth are highly encouraged to apply as well.

Toyota-West Dallas Scholarships will support students in any field of study at any institution of choice as long as the institution is an accredited, not-for-profit, private or public college/university.

Yes, but Toyota-West Dallas funds can only be applied to costs associated with study abroad if:

You remain enrolled in your home university;

The program occurs during the normal academic year (Fall, Winter, Spring in quarter system, Fall and Spring for semester system); and

You will be receiving US college credit towards your degree

To qualify, you must submit an Enrollment Verification form from your home university, after being notified that you have been selected to receive a Toyota-West Dallas Scholarship. Enrollment Verifications from institutions abroad will not be accepted.

Yes. Toyota-West Dallas has the discretion to enact random verification on select scholarship applications to ensure the validity of the information entered in applications. Additionally, Toyota-West Dallas verifies all required documents.

No, it is all there. When you login to scholarship account, click on ‘Scholarships Application,’ and you will be taken to our scholarship application system. The application will allow you to save your work and return to it until you submit.

No. All students who graduated from a high school in Texas may apply, as long as they meet all other eligibility criteria.

Special consideration will be given to graduating seniors, and recent graduates, of L.G. Pinkston High School. Students who graduated from other Dallas-Fort Worth area high schools are highly encouraged to apply as well.

Yes. High school students must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00, based on a 4.00 scale (or equivalent). Undergraduate college students, including community college students, must have a cumulative GPA of 2.5, based on a 4.0 scale (or equivalent) earned for a minimum of 12 credits. Graduate students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.5, based on a 4.0 scale (or equivalent) earned for a minimum of 9 units/credits.

Please contact Toyota-West Dallas’ Scholarships Department through your scholarship account. Make sure to provide a description of your citizenship or residency status in your message so that the Toyota-West Dallas Scholarships Team can determine your eligibility.

Yes. Students who graduate from high school early are eligible for Toyota-West Dallas Scholarships. However, you must plan to enroll full-time in an accredited, not-for-profit, public or private university or college the following fall term.

No. Toyota-West Dallas requires all recipients to be enrolled full-time at an accredited college/university for the fall term in the year in which they are awarded. Please note, official institution deferments, documented leaves of absence, and gap year programs in the fall will not be considered.

Once your scholarship application has been submitted, you will not be allowed to make any changes to it. All selected recipients will be asked to update their information during the awards acceptance process. The following information must be correct prior to disbursement:

Scholarship awards are disbursed between the months of September and December in the fall term of the year awarded. Please note that all scholarship awards are contingent upon proof of full-time enrollment.

All documents should be uploaded into your scholarship portal, per application instructions. Only documents uploaded into your scholarship portal will be reviewed. Documents sent by US Mail or fax will not be accepted.

No. Toyota-West Dallas’ online system is completely secure. Encrypted documents usually lead to disruptions in the scholarship application review process. Often times, the Toyota-West Dallas Scholarships Team is unable to read and verify the receipt of documents if they are encrypted.

Toyota-West Dallas accepts all word processing documents in PDF format. All images must be in the form of GIF, JPEG or PNG. Each document must be under 10 mb.

You are required to upload your official or unofficial academic transcript(s) only when requested to do so. If requested, scan and upload a PDF copy of your transcript(s) to your scholarship portal. You may also submit a screen shot of your transcripts from your college student portal. Handwritten transcripts will not be accepted.

Your transcript(s) must clearly indicate your name and institution. You may click ‘View’ after uploading your transcript(s) to verify the document is legible.

If your transcript does not include an academic GPA, please request a GPA and written explanation that describes how the GPA was calculated from your counselor or Registrar.

If a particular transcript runs more than one page, you must scan all pages and merge into ONE file, then upload the entire transcript in PDF format to your scholarship portal. The same procedure is required for any additional, multi-page documents you wish to upload. Each document must be under 10 mb.

If your question is not answered and you require additional assistance, please contact us via the message center.

Toyota-West Dallas processes citizenship verification through the Student Aid Report (SAR). Therefore, it is not necessary to submit additional proof of residency to Toyota-West Dallas. Please note that all US citizens, permanent residents, and eligible non-US citizens must submit a FAFSA, in order to be able to provide Toyota-West Dallas with a SAR. If you meet the residency criteria previously mentioned and do not file a FAFSA, you are ineligible for Toyota-West Dallas Scholarships.

Applicants will be prompted to list recommenders’ contact information on the application.

Recommenders must complete the electronic Recommendation Form online. Please note that one recommendation must be from an academic reference; the second is optional and can be submitted by anyone who is not a family member or friend. All online Recommendation Forms must be submitted by March 19th, 11:59 pm PST.

Recommenders are persons whom you have asked to complete an online Recommendation Form on your behalf, as part of your scholarship application. In order for your application to be considered complete, you must submit one completed academic recommendation. Your academic recommender must be an instructor, an advisor/counselor, or someone who is able to evaluate you academically (e.g., academic performance, motivation, plans and goals).

Additional recommenders can be academic or nonacademic. Secondary recommenders must be able to evaluate your community service and extracurricular activities (e.g. leadership, work ethic, and commitment).

Please note, recommendations from family members, family friends, and other close friends are discouraged.

Please be sure to ask your recommenders’ permission prior to submitting their names and email addresses to us. Be sure they have agreed to complete the online Recommendation Form for you, and let them know that they will receive an email from us on how to proceed, within 24 hours after you have submitted your scholarship application.

Toyota-West Dallas suggests you provide your recommenders with an updated resume to assist them in filling out their forms.

Recommenders will be able to access the Recommendation Form by setting up and logging into their scholarship portal (on this site). Recommenders will be emailed their recommendation link within 24 hours after you submit your application. Hence, we require the contact information you provide on your application form to include an email address for each recommender.

On the Toyota-West Dallas sign-in page, recommenders have the option to click on ‘Forgot Your Email?’ or ‘Forgot Your Password?’ in order to retrieve their login information. If the issue continues, ask your recommender to contact us via the message center.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (known as the FAFSA) is a form that can be submitted annually by current and prospective college students in the US to determine their eligibility for federal student financial aid (including Pell Grants, work-study programs, and loans). All US citizens, permanent residents, and eligible non-US citizens must submit a FAFSA, in order to be able to provide Toyota-West Dallas with a Student Aid Report. If you meet the residency criteria previously mentioned and do not file a FAFSA, you are ineligible for Toyota-West Dallas Scholarships.

The US Department of Education starts accepting FAFSA applications October 1st of each year, for the upcoming academic year.

Please note that you can apply for financial aid before you file your taxes. Corrections to your (FAFSA) application can always be submitted after you and/or your parents have filed for taxes and/or after the FAFSA has been submitted

The Student Aid Report (SAR) is a report of your responses on the FAFSA by the US Department of Education, once the FAFSA application has been processed. The SAR contains information the student provided on the FAFSA as well as the resulting federally calculated Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The financial aid office of the student’s institution will use the information contained in the SAR in order to determine the student's eligibility for federal student aid programs. Toyota-West Dallas uses the EFC, as well as the student’s financial aid package, to determine a student’s financial need.

After you submit your application for financial aid, you will receive a FAAL from the college(s) that you were admitted to and that you listed on your financial aid application, typically in early to mid-April. This letter outlines the details of your financial aid at that institution. Note, your FAAL may also be contained within your college/institutional portal.

A financial aid package is a collection of different types of financial assistance from multiple sources (federal, state and from the institution) and different types (grants, scholarships, loans, and work-study). It is intended to help you pay for college costs, or the cost of attendance (COA).

Toyota-West Dallas acknowledges that every student has a unique financial situation. As a result, Toyota-West Dallas customizes scholarship awards based on a careful assessment of remaining student need after all other financial aid is calculated.

If this is the first year you will be attending your institution, you will have received a FAAL from your college either in the mail or via your online student portal. If you are a returning student, you will typically be able to find your FAAL via your online student portal. If you are having trouble locating your FAAL, please consult with your financial aid department at your college/university.

You will need to upload your FAAL to your scholarship portal. If your document is in paper form, please scan and upload. If your document can only be accessed through your student portal (online) then you may print, scan and upload or take clear screen shots, save the images in one of our supported file types and upload. The supported file types are PDF, JPG, JPEG and PNG with a maximum file size of 5MB.

Note: Acceptance letters, tuition bills, and directions on how to access your student portal will not be accepted.

In most cases, financial aid offices provide students with DACA status with a FAAL that provides the student with a clear indication of the costs associated with attending the institution and lists any institutional or private financial aid for the student. Please note, if requested, you must submit a FAAL. If you are not receiving financial aid from your institution, please upload proof such as a screenshot of the notification which states that you have no funds awarded for the school year.

Note: Acceptance letters, tuition bills and directions on how to access your student portal will not be accepted.

If selected as a scholarship recipient you’ll be prompted to submit a fall Enrollment Verification. The Toyota-West Dallas Enrollment Verification form and additional details will be sent to all scholarship recipients late summer.

Verification of full-time enrollment must be uploaded to your scholarship portal between August and December.

Yes, there are several options for submitting an official Enrollment Verification form to Toyota-West Dallas. You can go directly to your institutions registrar’s office and request an official Enrollment Verification form.

OR

Quickest method: You can submit an official Enrollment Verification from the National Student Clearinghouse. This is an organization with whom most US institutions register, and which offers a verification form as an expedited service. You can go to their website at http://www.studentclearinghouse.org/ and for a nominal fee, they will send you a PDF version of your Enrollment Verification instantly.

OR

You may use the Toyota-West Dallas Enrollment Verification form which will be emailed to you. You can take this form to your registrar’s office for completion. Please be sure to complete the student portion of the form and that the registrar’s office has completed all questions on its portion.

Your Enrollment Verification form must be dated at least one day after your first day of class.

We expect the applications from deserving students to greatly outnumber the awards we have available. Accordingly, selection is predicted to be highly competitive and not every strong student will make the final cut.

It’s important to remember that if your application is incomplete, you will not be considered for a scholarship. Many bright students miss out on opportunities because they submit incomplete applications.

Take charge of your application process by:

Following up with school officials, as well as recommenders, and making sure they have completed the forms they’re responsible for, correctly and on time.

Make sure to follow all instructions carefully.

Have a teacher, counselor or parent review your application to make sure you didn’t overlook anything.

Yes. However, documentation between your home institution and host institution will be required. You must submit the following items*:

Enrollment Verification forms from each campus you are attending.

A copy of official documentation from your home institution (i.e. Consortium Agreement; Dual Enrollment; Transient Agreements, etc.). If you are unsure what a Consortium Agreement is, please visit your academic advisor.

A brief written explanation as to why you cannot be full-time at one campus that includes a list of the classes and their unit/hour value, in which you are enrolled, per campus.

*It is important that these documents be uploaded to your scholarship portal. We will need to review this documentation in order to make a final decision.

No. In order to be eligible for a Toyota-West Dallas Scholarship, students must be enrolled full-time in the fall and spring terms, for the year in which the scholarship is awarded. Please note that scholarship funds cannot be deferred to another academic term or school year.

Your status as a Toyota-West Dallas scholarship recipient is contingent upon verification of full-time enrollment at an accredited college/university. Once your Enrollment Verification is received your award will be processed.